Chad's 68 Camaro V3.0 build. LS3 & TCI goodies

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

Thanks Vince! It was a fun day. The silver color has grown on me. Will probably leave it like that for a least a little while.

I've been thinking about painting it black and adding some black war stripes / fender stripes to the front quarter. It gets old having everyone think this is Sal's TCI car

Then tell Sal to paint his.

Congrats on the WIN Chad!

[Jr]

Chad,

Congrats on the win.

How was the knock back on the rear after you installed the part from currie?

Any issues with spindle flex/bearings on the front?

Do you know the width of your rear end?

[Tomswheels]

Well deserved win Chad!

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Then tell Sal to paint his.

Congrats on the WIN Chad!

Thanks Dave. Any updates on your Camaro or did you buy that Mustang by chance?

Originally Posted by Jr

Chad,

Congrats on the win.

How was the knock back on the rear after you installed the part from currie?

Any issues with spindle flex/bearings on the front?

Do you know the width of your rear end?

Thanks! I never had pad knock back on the autocross nor most of the turns on a road course. The primary situation where I experienced it was when I had two road course turns 1+g's back to back in opposite directions where I didn't need to break between them. Small quick autocross turns don't do it and single direction road course turns no matter how long or high of G's didn't do it.

Also, I actually had some work done on the spider gears to axle fit as well which may be an even bigger factor in the pad knock back as it was allowing the inner axle ends to move up and down.

As far as I know I didn't have any knockback caused by spindle flex. though I have also had a preload spacer on the spindle bearings since day 1 which is supposed to help. But I'm not expert at this stuff either. I will be sure to post an update the next time I make it to a track where I saw some knockback previously.

Originally Posted by Tomswheels

Well deserved win Chad!

Thanks Tom!! As the guy who had the increasingly larger target on his back thanks for keeping it real and fun.

[Chad-1stGen]

Who says lightning can't strike twice?

Another win today at the Fontana Hotchkis autocross!

[GregWeld]

Way to go Chad!!!


BTW -- Being mistaken as Sals car.... isn't all bad -- he's one hell of a nice guy and can drive too! So good company to keep.

[WSSix]

Congrats on the win!

[Scott Haggai]

sweet build!

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by GregWeld

Way to go Chad!!!


BTW -- Being mistaken as Sals car.... isn't all bad -- he's one hell of a nice guy and can drive too! So good company to keep.

Very true Greg! Sal really is a great guy and has continued to provide great service after the sale. A lot of my recent success with the car on the track has been from great advice from him. It really helps when a company like TCI has figured it all out already and can provide a detailed road map for your own build and wants you as the customer to be able to beat them.

Originally Posted by WSSix

Congrats on the win!

Thanks!! It was a great weekend. I didn't win Sunday (came in 2nd) but I had just as much fun thanks to all the great people that participate in these events. The camaraderie and good natured bench racing / smack talk is great. Also, while I'm competitive the most satisfying day on track is when your own times get better throughout the day. Sunday I ran my quickest time on my very last run so I was stoked.

Originally Posted by Scott Haggai

sweet build!

Thanks Scott. It sure has been a lot of fun driving it now instead of trying to build it

[Chad-1stGen]

I finally completed step 1 of some long coming safety upgrades planned for the car!

For several months I have been looking at fixed back seats and sitting in as many models as I can. After a lot of deliberation I decided not to go with an aluminum seat and instead do a fiberglass FIA rated seat. The comfort difference was simply to great for me to ignore.

I'm a taller guy at 6'3" with a taller torso so I struggled to find a seat that really fits me. A lot of the seats marketed for taller people move the shoulder harness slots higher in the seat but didn't make the seat back itself much taller and often the shoulder wings / bolsters would come out at my armpit and not touch my shoulder at all.

It was amazing to me to look at the difference in height measurements between a reclining seat and a fixed back seat as the same manufactures really shrink the fixed back seat down comparatively.

For me personally I found the Sparco Evo II to be the best fit. The shoulder wing mounts were higher than any other brand seat I was able to either sit in or find accurate measurements for online. Their Ergo L model is even higher but I didn't like the look of that seat and it was a little too wide. The problem is that due to the port strike Sparco has been out of stock on this seat for months! I finally found a 1 year old authentic model for sale locally and bought it and installed it.

The seat:


The mounting setup I used. I may make a 2nd mount setup without the sliders for hardcore track days to increase safety and headroom. However, I decided that for now I wanted to keep a slider so that my wife can drive the car as well as preserve the option to get fast drivers to drive the car and provide feedback.


And the seat installed in the car.


This past weekend's Hotchkis autocross event at Fontana was my first chance to try the seat out. It really does help you drive better to not be using the steering wheel as a handle and getting pushed around in the car.

Now I can finally pursue getting rollover protection built as we will know exactly where my head is in the car. Then it will be time for 5 point belts.